Safety reverse ratchet brake



, G.. VAN BRIMER ETAL sAFmY REvERsE RATCHET BRAKE Filed Jan. 23, 1926- 2Sheets-Sheet l u m i G. VAN BRIMER El' AL.

SAFETY REVERSE RATCHET BRAKE Filed Jan. 23, 192e l 2 sheets-sheet 2 July3l, 1928.

Patented July 31, 1928.

`UNITED STATES N 1,679,281 PATENT oFFicE.

GEORGE VAN BRIMEB, HOMER A. MAGRATH, JOHN KLANCHER, AND BURL SOOTS, OF

PUEBLO, COLORADO.

sArETY REVERSE 'RATCHET BRAKE.A

`appncfanm filed January 23, 192e. serial No. 83,333.

This invention relates to `manually controlled brake operating mechanismfor railway cars and is especially intended for use on freight cars. j

5 More particularly the invention relates to improvements in the safetyreverse ratchet brake shown and described in our prior Patent No.1,503,139, dated July 29, 1924.

Among the principal objects of the present invention are theimprovementandsimplification of the manner in which the winding andunwin'ding pawls are controlled by the hand lever; and the improvementand simplification of the means by which the pawl of the locking ratchetis controlled.

In the following description we shall refer to the accompanying drawingsin which Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion of the end of a freightcar showing our ratchet brake applied thereto.'

Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the locking ratchet mechanism tal-:en inthe direction of the arrows on the line 2-2 of Figure 1. Figure 3 is asection' on the line 3-3 of Figure 1, the view being drawn to the samescale as Figure 2. l

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail section through the head of the deviceshowing the hand lever raised.

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 showing the hand lever dropped.

1n `the present embodiment of the invention there is shown a portion Fof the end wall of a freight car ofthe ordinary box car type. Near thetop of this Wall there is mounted a bracket 10 located to one side ofthe center of the car so that the ordinary brake staff' 11 may extendvertically through the projecting flange 12 formed on the bracket andnot interfere with the coupler. lower end of this staff is connected inthe usual manner to the car brakes but this connection has not beenillustrated inthe drawings as it forms no part of thev presentinvention.

Just above the flange 12 there is fixed on the staff 11 an edge ratchet13 and pivotedV between the flange 12 and a second flange 14, spacedabove said flange 12, is a pawl having one end 15 engageable with theratchet and its remaining end 16 projecting laterally into the path of atrip 17. This trip is pivoted on a pin 18 projecting from an extension19 extending upwardly from the flange 14.

M This trip has a form substantially like that iis a pawl 29 having aweighted end 30 en- -gageable with theratchet 22. This pawl 29 The Y ofthe sector of a circlev so as to present two substantially radial facesand is of sufficiently heavy construction that, whenin the full `lineposition of Figure 2 (dotted in Figure it will move the end 15 out' ofbe engaged or disengaged from the ratchet.

" 1t Vwill be obvious that this construction avoids the use of the pairof arms and Weight of our prior patent and, due to its rugged,

cev

Vengagement with the ratchet 13 while, as

'or the other of the pawl end 16 t ie pawl may ness, is muchl lessliable to breakage, and is"A` simpler to manufacture.

The stall actuating mechanism is carried by the upper end of the staffand comprises a hub 20, fixed on the upper end of the staff' and havinga flange 21 provided vwith upper and lower face ratchets 22 and 22uarranged in opposite directions, the upper ratchet 22 being the brakesetting ratchet and thelower ratchet 22 forming the. brake unwindingratchet. vAt its upper end the hub is provided with a journal 23 whereonis mounted a bracket 24 having downwardlyV extending spaced arms 25united at their lower ends to form a bearing 26 mounted on the staff 11.The connection between the lower ends of theseV arms forms a stopsurface. 27. A pivot 28 extends betweenthese arms 25 at their upperparts and mounted on this pivot is housed beneath the bracket 24.*beingprotected from the weather by a downwardly depending flange`31 whichhasa lower edgeY forming a limit stop for the upwardly swinglen ingmovement of a hand lever 32'mounted` Lv on a pivot 33 extending betweenthe arms 25. The lever 32 has a short end 34 terminating 1n a camsurface 35 engageable `with the under side of the pawl 29 upon icodepression of the handle end of the lever, as

clearly shown in Figure 5, to lift Athe pawl out of Contact with theratchet 22. Thus raising the handle of the lever 32 to its upward limitallows engagement of the pawl 29 while dropping the handle anddisengages the pawl 29 and it will be noted that this action is verydifferent from our former patent wherein the handle had to be held in anintermediate position to permit engagelll) ment of the correspondingpawl and in which either limit of movement of the handie would serve todisengage such pawl.

Adjacent the surface 27 a pivot 36 extends between the arms 25 and onthis pivot is mounted a pawl 37 positioned, when raised, to engage theratchet 22a. This pawl has a short end 3S provided with a cam surface 39engagcable by a coacting surface of the under side of the lever 3Q. Thearrangement of these parts is such that. dropping the handle (as inFigure 5) throws the pawl into engagement with the ratchet 22, thehandle thus acting as a weight to hold the pawl yicldably in suchengagement. Obviously lifting the handle as in Figure et permits thepawl to drop on the surface 27 but if the pawl jams the short end 34will force it downwardly.

The operation is simple. In setting the brakes the handle is raised andofcillated in a horizontal plane. the trip being set to effect operationof the locking pawl l5. The handle may then be dropped but, unless thetrip is thrown to release pawl l5 the brakes will remain set. To releasethe brakes the trip is thrown over. Ordinarily this will be suiiicient,but if the brakes do not fully release, the handle may be grasped andoscillated in its lowered position, causing the pawl 37 to engage thelower ratchet 22a. This will effect a positive release rotation of thestati 11.

While we have here shown one form of the device changes which fallwithin the scope of the invention will be apparent to engineers andthose skilled in the art so that the scope of the invention is not to berestricted by the particular' torni shown but is to be sufficient toinclude all forms covered by the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is: i

1. In a mechanism for the purpose described, a rotatable shaft, abracket rotatably mounted on said shaft, right hand and left handratchets fixed on the shaft, a pawl pivoted to said bracket and movableinto and out of engagement with the first ratchet, a second pawl alsopivoted to the bracket and movable into and out of engagement with thesecond ratchet, and a lever pivoted between said pawls on said bracketto swing in a plane radially7 of the shaft, said lever having a shortend which, in its lowered position, engages the under side of the firstsaid pawl forward ot its pivot to liftA it out of engagement with theratchet and bears laterallyT against the second pawl rearward of itspivot to swing it up into engagement with the ratchet, and said lever,when swung into its uppermost position, disengages both pawls, wherebythe first pawl drops into engagen'ient with its ratchet and the secondpawl drops away from its ratchet.

2. In a mechanism for the purpose described, a rotatable shaft, abracket rotatably mounted on said shaft.` a ratchet mem ber mounted onsaid shaft and having a right hand and a left hand ratchet, a pair o:pawls mounted on the bracket to cooperate with the respective ratchets,and an operating level' swingingly mounted on the bracket and normallyrestino in depending position, said lever having a lort end which, inits depending position, engages the under side of the Iirst said pawlforward of its pivot to lift it out of engagement with the ratchet andbears laterally against the sccond pawl rearward of its pivot to swingit up into engagement with the ratchet, and said lever, when swungoutwardly into its uppermost position, disengages both pawls, wherebythe first pawl drops into engagement with its ratchet and the secondpawl drops away from its atchet.

3. in a mecl'ianism for the purpose described, a rotatable shaft. awinding ratchet on said shaft, an unwinding ratchet on said shaft, a.bracket embracing said ratchets and rotatable on the shaft, a pawlpivoted at one end to the bracket and positioned for gravitationalengagement with the winding ratchet, an operating lever pivoted to thebracket to swing between depending and raised position, said lever beingpivoted adjacent one oi' its ends to provide a short end adapted toengage said pawl and free it from the ratchet when the lever is independing position, said lever when raised to its upper limit releasingsaid pawl whereby it drops to engage the winding ratchet, and a secondpawl pivoted to the b 'acket at its lower part and intermediate its endsto provide a long arm movable into and out of engagcnient with theunwinding ratchet and a short arm projecting' in the path of the longerarm of the lever to cause the second pawl to cngage the unwindingratchet when the lever is in its depending position, the longer arm ofthe second pawl being engaged by the short arm of the lever when thelong arm of the lever is raised into its upper position and beingthereby held out ot engagement with the unwinding ratchet. V

In testimony whereof, we aiiix our signa tures.

GEO. VAN BRIMER. HOMER A.. MAGRATH. JOHN KLANCHER. BURL SOOTS.

